Michael Russell | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Portland's top 10 Italian restaurants
Update: Don't miss our most recent guide to Portland's top Italian restaurants.
Last year's guide: Earlier this month, we unveiled our 2016 guide to Portland's 101 best restaurants, plus Portland's 2016 Restaurant of the Year. Now we're slicing and dicing the 101 into useful lists, starting last week with the city's top steakhouses, continuing today with Portland's best Italian restaurants.
While Portland doesn't have anything at the level of Osteria Francescana, the progressive Modena restaurant that rocketed to the top of the World's 50 Best Restaurants list this year, there are plenty of restaurants that look to faithfully recreate the flavors of Italy. The following restaurants are listed in the order they appear in this year's restaurant guide, plus two worthy additions (three really -- see Nos. 10 and 9) that just missed the larger cut.
-- Michael Russell
Michael Russell | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Portland's top 10 Italian restaurants
No. 10: Nonna/DOC
These neighboring Italian restaurants, one casual, one spendy, sit side-by-side on this restaurant-loaded corner of Northeast Portland.
5513 & 5519 N.E. 30th Ave.
Courtesy of Caffe Allora
Portland's top 10 Italian restaurants
No. 9: Allora
While some local restaurants channel Tuscany or Rome, Allora is pure Milan; cool, dark, stylish and hard-working but always ready to unwind with an Aperol spritz or Americano cocktail.
504 N.W. Ninth Ave.
Stephanie Yao Long
Portland's top 10 Italian restaurants
No. 8: Accanto
Accanto, a casual Italian restaurant that's more stylish than a Vespa, attracts hip Sunnyside neighbors for its fizzy cafe cocktails and buzzy vibe.
2838 S.E. Belmont St.
Stephanie Yao Long
Portland's top 10 Italian restaurants
No. 7: Bar Mingo
At this casual Italian restaurant in Nob Hill, chef Jerry Huisinga makes good pastas and a Mount Olympus-worthy risotto.
811 N.W. 21st Ave
Michael Russell | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Portland's top 10 Italian restaurants
No. 6: Mucca Osteria
Italian chef Simone Savaiano serves a leaning-tower caprese salad, credit-card-thin discs of lamb carpaccio and other inspired dishes at this downtown restaurant.
1022 S.W. Morrison St.
Ross William Hamilton
Portland's top 10 Italian restaurants
No. 5: Luce
If you order only one thing at this deceptively simple Italian restaurant make it the cappelletti in brodo – tiny dumplings floating in an ethereal broth.
2140 E. Burnside St.
Michael Russell | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Portland's top 10 Italian restaurants
No. 4: Firehouse
Firehouse has something Portland’s fancier restaurants struggle to match: hospitality, comfort and warmth, plus a wood-fired kitchen that goes toe-to-toe with the rest.
711 N.E. Dekum St.
Michael Russell | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Portland's top 10 Italian restaurants
No. 3: Ava Gene's
Ava Gene's is one of Portland’s best-looking restaurants. Focus on the vegetables, with bruschetta to start and a pasta to finish, and you’ll eat well, too.
3377 S.E. Division St.
Michael Russell | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Portland's top 10 Italian restaurants
No. 2: Renata
Renata is a warm, friendly Italian restaurant built around great service, fantastic wine and unbeatable pasta.
626 S.E. Main St.
Stephanie Yao Long
Portland's top 10 Italian restaurants
No. 1: Nostrana
Nostrana serves fine-tuned salads, beautifully blistered Neapolitan pizzas, wood-charred steaks and faithful Italian pastas.
1401 S.E. Morrison St.
Stephanie Yao Long
EMoku
Read on: Check out our guides to the city's best patios, ramen shops, after-hours eats and our ranked roundup of Portland's 101 best restaurants.
-- Michael Russell
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